Coffin



(No Model.)

0. D. BYERS.

GOFPIN;

Patented'D eo. 21', 1886.

ATTORNEYS FFICE.

PATENT OSCAR D. BYERS, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

COFFIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,852, dated December 21, 1886.

Application filed September 1885. Serial No. 214,505. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, OSCAR D. BYERS, of

. Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the with my improved lid-fasteners.

State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fasteners for Burial- Oasket Lids, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention consistsiuimproved devices for connecting the lids to burial-caskets, whereby the top of the casket-walls is made to present an unbroken or solid surface, and the usual cloth facing thereon is left intact, and the marring or tearing of the said cloth facing by the sliding of the lid-fastening devices upon it is obviated; and, furthermore, the attachment and detachment of the lid is greatly facilitated.

Theinvention is fully illustrated in the annexed drawings, wherein Figure 1 is an isometric view of an open burial-casket provided Fig. 2 is an inverted isometric view of the lid pertaining to said casket. Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged vertical transverse sections taken, respectively, on lines 00 m and y y, Fig. 1, with the lid in its closed position on the casket. Figs. 5 and 6 are detached isometric views of the catch-plates of the lid-fastener. Figs. 7 and S are detached isometric views of the component parts of the latch, and Fig. 9 is a top plan view of a burial-casket with its lid partly removed.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A represents the burial-casket, and G the lid thereof.

In the top of the side walls of the casket, at proper intervals and preferably near the ends thereof, 1 countersink the metallic catch-plates a a, and firmly secure said plates in their positions by means of screws passing through them and into the said side walls. In the top of the side walls of the casket I form recesses o- 1, extending under the catch-plates a a from the outer edge of one of the aforesaid walls and from the inner edge of the opposite wall.

In the under side of the lid G, at points coinciding with the positions of the catch-plates a a aforesaid, I countersink the catch-plates b b, and rigidly fasten them in their positions by means of screws passing through them and into the lid. These latter catch-plates I provide with rigid hooks h h, which stand with their free ends or engaging parts in one and the same direction, and in such positions in relation to the catch-plates a athat, by sliding the lid horizontally and in a plane in range with that of the top of the casket and to its proper closed position thereon, the hooks h h are caused to enter the recesses 0' r, and thus interlock with the catch-plates a a, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The lid thereby receives sufficient hold on the casket to 'allow the latter to be lifted by its lid.

In order to facilitate the operation of ad; justing the lid to its proper position on the casket, I pivot the lid on the top of the casket so as to swing horizontally, or in a plane in range with that of the top of the casket, by providing the latter with a vertical socket, 0, preferably near one end of the side wall of the casket, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and to the under side of the lid, at a point corresponding to the position of the aforesaid socket, I secure a pintle, d, which projects downward from the lid and is adapted to enter the aforesaid socket.

By placing the lid horizontally upon the casket and inserting the pintle (7. into the socket c, the lid becomes pivoted on the casket so as to allow it to swing horizontally thereon, and by swinging the free end of the lid laterally off from the casket, and then horizontally back onto the casket, the hooks h h of the catch plates 1) b are caused to engage or interlock with the catch-plates a a, as hereinbefore described, the aforesaid pivot serving to guide the lid in its movement toward and from the closed position. l

I do not limit myself to the described location of the respective catch-plates a and b in relation to the casket and its lid, as it is obvious that they may be arranged conversely t. e., the hooked plates 22 b may be attached to the casket and the other catch-plates a attached to the lid; but the projections of the books h h on top of the casket are objectionable.

For the purpose of retaining the lid in its closed position on the casket, I employ a latch consisting of a metallic plate, e, rigidly serectly over the plate e, the free end of the spring plate f being' forme d with a. central tongue, t, and with offsets u u at opposite sides of said tongue. When the lid is closed, the tongue t projects through the notch in of the plate 0, and the ofl'sets u to abut against the lips ee'of said plate. The tonguetserves as a handle by which to manipulate the said spring-plate. The free end of the latter normally projects 'away from the under side of the lid, and in sliding the lid onto the casket, as hereinbefore described, the spring-plate f yields and slides over the lips'e e of the plate a, and when the lid is in its closed position the spring-plate automatically drops into engagement with the lips e e aforesaid.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A lid-fastener for burial-caskets, consisting of catch-plates secured to'the top of the casket, recesses extending under said catchplates from the outer edge of one wall and from the inner edge of the opposite wall of the casket, and catch-plates secured to the under side of the lid, and having their engaging parts projecting in one and the same direction and adapted to engage the catch-plateson the casket, all constructed and combined to allow the lid to slide in a plane in range with the plane of the top of the casket to and from its closed position, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination,with the burial-casket, of the lid pivoted to swing horizontally thereon, and catch-plates secured, respectively, to

the casket and lid, and adapted to interlock with each other in the approach of the lid to 5 its closed position, as set forth and shown.

3. In a casket-lid fastener, the combination of catch-plates secured to the top of the casket, recesses extending under said catch plates from the outer edge'of one wall and from the inner edge of the opposite wall of the casket, the lid pivoted on the casket and adapted to swing in a plane in range with the plane of the top of the casket, and catch-plates secured to the under side of the lid, and having their engaging parts projecting in one and the same direction and adapted to engage the catchplates on the casket, substantially as described and shown.

4.. The combination, with the burial-casket,

of the lid pivoted to swing horizontally on said casket, catch-plates secured, respectively, to the top of the casket and to the under side of the lid, and adapted to interlock with each other simultaneously with the sliding of the lid upon the casket, and a latch for retaining the lid, in its closed position, substantially as described and shown.

5. In combination with the casket and its lid, the plate e,rigidly secured to the top of the 7c of said tongue, substantially as described and 7 5 shown.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name and aflixed my sealfin the presence of two attesting witnesses, at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York,

this 20th day of September, 1886.

OSCAR D. BYERS. [L. s.]

lVitnesses:

H. P. DENISON, O. BENDIXON. 

